Missoula Rural Fire Responds to Blaze at Business in Lolo

Missoula Rural Fire crews rolled Wednesday at about 7:00 p.m. in response to a fire at Hart’s Motorsports in Lolo.

Assistant Fire Chief Paul Finlay said a passerby spotted the fire and called 9-1-1.

“They said the flames were coming through the roof of the business at that address,” said Finlay. “We were dispatched at about 7:05 and had an engine on scene in about four and a half minutes. We reported smoke from that business which is a 42 by 100 foot building. When additional units arrived they stopped the fire at its point of origin with about 500 gallons of water.”

Finlay said investigators were on the scene Thursday morning and determined the source of the fire.

“The point of origin was around a plasma table that had a photo scanner on it and any other contributing factors of the fire have been ruled out with the exception of that photo scanner.”

An estimate of damages was made at about $20,000 to $30,000, however, Finlay said without the quick response by Missoula Rural Fire, damages could have been much higher.

“The value of all the equipment and the building itself is well in excess of $300,000, so we consider that to be a good effort in saving a lot of that value by our firefighters on scene,” he said.